Saturday, April 18: Loreto were officially crowned EY Hockey League Winners today at Loreto Beaufort against the backdrop of their centenary celebrations, with the fate of the six sides fighting for topflight survival finally realised.
There was drama, elation, and devastation in equal measures across the Women’s EY Hockey League as the final round provided sides their final opportunity to guarantee survival.
On Serpentine Avenue, Pembroke Wanderers were the day’s biggest winners, as they secured a emphatic 3-0 win over Queen’s University Belfast that carried them out of the relegation zone and into fifth place, booking them a spot in Saturday’s EY Champions Trophy Play-Offs. Early goals from Katherine Egan and Holly Farrell set Pembroke on their way before Martha McCready put the icing on the cake in quarter 3. Fortunately for Queen’s University, results elsewhere meant that they survived, but missed out on a play-off place as they dropped to eighth in the standings.
It was a sight to behold at Alexandra College as Old Alex and Portadown played as if their lives depended on it. Portadown came back from behind on three separate occasions, the third of which coming with less than five minutes remaining to force a shootout which Old Alex went on to win. The late draw proved vital for the visitors, securing them the sixth and final EY Champions Trophy Play-Off place, while the bonus point draw for Old Alex secured their safety, and saw them climb to seventh in the standings, missing out on sixth on goal difference.
In Loreto Beaufort, only a win would do for Ulster Elks in their last gasp battle for survival. The visitors put in a staggering performance, fighting back from two goals down to lead 3-2 going into the final minutes, but a late Loreto goal was the decisive action, resulting in a shootout that Loreto went on the win, a result which meant Ulster Elks were relegated.
Railway Union closed their season out with a win over Catholic Institute, a result which condemned the Munster side to the drop on the final day. Institute kept the game scoreless throughout the first half, but Railway broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, before adding a second four minutes later, both goals coming from Aisling Utri. Inst clawed a goal back in the final quarter in an effort to maintain their topflight status, but Utri cancelled it out in the closing two minutes to complete her hattrick and put the game out of reach of the visitors.
And third place UCD and fourth place Pegasus played out a scoreless draw in a largely inconsequential game for both sides given their place in the table was already secured. The visitors took the bonus point in the shootout to give them the lion’s share of the confidence going into next weekend’s play-offs.
The results sees League Winners Loreto and runners-up Railway Union progress directly to the EY Champions Trophy Finals Weekend on May 9, with third place UCD facing sixth place Portadown, and fourth place Pegasus hosting fifth place Pembroke Wanderers in the EY Champions Trophy Play-Offs on Saturday, April 25.
Loreto 3 [2 – 1] 3 Ulster Elks
Old Alex 3 [5 – 4] 3 Portadown
Pembroke Wanderers 3 – 0 Queen’s University
Railway Union 3 – 1 Catholic Institute
UCD 0 [2 – 3] 0 Pegasus
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